Dipika's Story

I didn’t know I had endometriosis until last year, at the age of 41.

My periods were extremely heavy and irregular from when they first started, at 14. The family GP dismissed them as ‘normal’, despite the fact that I was regularly bleeding through my sanitary protection and, often, my clothes - much to my embarrassment.

I went on the pill in my 20s, which helped, but as I approached 30 I began suffering from other symptoms including bowel issues, nausea, period-like pain at random times, and a strange, constant ache in the left side of my body, which was particularly bad in my leg. I saw many GPs who never once mentioned endometriosis. One GP dismissed my pain to the point that I burst into tears out of sheer frustration. And so I soldiered on.

In my mid-30s I was diagnosed with chronic migraines and I came off the pill to see if this helped my headaches (it didn’t). My ‘proper’ periods returned in full force; weirdly, they finally became regular, but they also became increasingly heavy and painful to the point where I was passing out from the pain. Yet again, I was told that this was ‘normal’.

It was only when I had a period lasting nearly 2 weeks - which I was convinced was a sign of peri-menopause - that a sympathetic GP finally referred me to gynaecology ‘just in case’. My first ultrasound picked up cysts on my ovaries that, several scans and an MRI later, were finally identified as blood-filled cysts. When I looked this up online and saw that these cysts are a symptom of endometriosis - a condition that I had long been vaguely aware of, but had never once thought of as something that I could have - it was like a light had suddenly been switched on.

During my wait to see the consultant who would treat me, the Endometriosis UK website was immensely helpful in explaining endometriosis and the potential treatment options. I couldn’t believe the fact that nearly all of the symptoms I’d been experiencing for most of my life lined up with the disease. I finally had answers 27 years after the onset of those awful periods.

I underwent laparoscopic surgery in February 2024. Although I know that endometriosis is a chronic condition and that some symptoms could return, it is a huge relief to finally have my diagnosis and the prospect of at least a short time with reduced pain. I only hope that more research and investment can be put into endometriosis to get quicker diagnoses for those suffering from what can be profoundly debilitating, life-destroying and frustrating symptoms.

Above all, there needs to be a much greater awareness of the fact that painful periods are not normal, among both the public and medical professionals. If I’d known this as a teenager, I could have saved myself many years of suffering.